Former ward 66 councillor, Dr Du Bois back in the arena

WITH the confirmation of Wednesday, October 27, as the local government election date, the nomination of ward candidates by parties has been finalised.

Returning as a candidate after retiring in 2016 is former ward 66 councillor and Bluff historian, Dr Duncan du Bois.

In motivation of his decision he said he was frustrated at being on the sidelines, while conditions not only on the Bluff, but in the greater Metro were deteriorating. “To be effective in politics one needs to be in the arena and to have a platform from which to operate. I also feel there is a great lack of experienced representatives in public office,” he said.

“To that end I will be representing the KZN-based Minorities of South Africa (MOSA) party in ward 66. MOSA is contesting 35 Metro wards. Its policies mirror my belief that all posts, promotions and procurement should be based purely on merit and not racial representivity or affirmative action. In that respect MOSA calls for the abolition of BEE.”

“It is also time to recognise that eThekwini Metro is sinking into debt and dysfunctionalism. We need to revert to smaller, sustainable municipalities catering for local communities. A series of different municipalities in the eThekwini region would engender tariff competition which would prove attractive to business investment as opposed to the current one-size-fits-all approach,” he added.

“Another way of reducing the cost of local government is to rationalise the extent to which services can be outsourced to private contractors. Such practice reduces the wage bill and the benefits a municipality is obliged to provide to permanent staff. By outsourcing services a municipality is also able to take advantage of competitive market prices as a further benefit to ratepayers. With the current Metro set-up that is not possible.”

“As far as the Bluff is concerned, I want to see the stalled Bluff beaches upgrade project restarted and the establishment of a civic centre serving as a Sizakala centre accommodating the library, clinic and municipal offices. Resources for Metro Police need to be beefed up along with proactive law enforcement in curbing anti-social conduct, town planning violations and environmental depredation,” he concluded.

Du Bois represented the Bluff from 2001 to 2016. He is the author of Bluff Peninsula – a random history and road name register as well as three books on colonial Natal history.

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